Consider what a mes s it is out there.
We confront upheaval s in the economy,
in technolog y and in our profes sions.
Starting with a bursting rea l e state bubble,
the collapse of the broader ec onomy has
led to the fastest and deepest loss of jobs
in the design and construction industries
in decade s. Information technolog y has
changed how we communicate and organize
ourselve s. Data is ubiquitous and continu-
ously available; meaning is harder to find.
Within our profes sion s, changes to how
we deliver our ser vic es threaten to under-
mine the time and focus needed to create
meaningful design. Digital technology
turns design into inform ation to be m anaged,
potentially draining it of inspiration.
Web -based communication means we work
with people we might not even meet.
Sust ainable design and energy efficiency
c ome to the forefront even a s budgets
for design and construction shrink.
The BAC’s ties to the design professions
make us exc eptionally aware of the problems
we’re fa cing. Buffeted by these force s, we
don’t have the financial resources to sit tight
a nd wait for things to settle back down.
We have to change. And that’s where this
school’s truly extraordinary character makes
the difference.
We are closer to practice than any
other school in the country. We have over
four hundred faculty, most of them active
practitioners , a nd well over a thousand
c reative and extraordinarily hardworking
students — a ga in, ac tive practitioners.
We have de eply engaged and dedicated
sta ff and limber governance. The se resourc es
ma ke us exc eptiona lly able to envision the
future of design a nd practice.
How are we responding? Reinvention
a nd innovation! A couple of examples:
Transferring the Landscape Institute
of the Arnold Arboretum to the BAC.
When Har vard indicated that they
would no longer continue to support
the renowned de cade s- old program, we
e va luated its educ ational mission in light
of ours, its finances in light of our own
resources, a nd negotiated a succ essf ul transfer
in a matter of weeks. What began as an
inquiry in May had students and faculty
under our roof in September.
Establishing a formal peer-reviewed Faculty.
Just getting under way, the ne w de signation
of BAC faculty members will enable u s
to better rec ognize the extraordinary breadth
of profes sional talent and experienc e placed
in ser vice of our students, a nd cohere the
role and authority of our faculty across all
of the school ’s programs. Fac ulty Members
will receive support to f urther develop their
teaching skills, improve their curricular
offerings, advanc e their research intere sts,
and collaborate with colleagues both within
a nd across disciplines.
Reformulating Foundation Studies.
Our first segment increa singly introduce s
students to an educ ation in design rather
than initial study exclusively focused on one
discipline. After all, the synthesis of disparate
elements into an integrated whole ha s always
been the underlying function of the design
profe ssions. By having our multiple degree
programs built upon a more universa l
foundation, one that will be applicable to
many fields, we offer our graduate s more
flexibility for the f uture.
Incorporating online inst ruction t ech niques
in our onsite a s well as low-residency programs.
Our technology resources are providing
skills needed by both our practitioner-
instructors, a nd our students, to equip them
for the future. By conducting cla sses with
dist ance te chnology our instructors are
learning how to integrate the full variety
of communication media into the design
process and to manage that process to
achieve sophisticated collaboration among
st udents. Students, likewise, discover
how to employ technolog y in ways that
rise far above information manag ement.
Both are acquiring ways of thinking
and organizing that will prepare them
to be leaders defining a new model of
professional practice.
Evolving require ments for the Practice
Curriculum. We’re engaging students
in competitions and special projects where
students from every program work with
colleagues in other schools and fields.
The affordable housing competition sponsored
by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston
engages our students with team members
drawn from the fields of business, planning,
law, and social s er vice and advance s the
needs of real-world nonprofit clients . Our
Department of Energy Sol ar Decathlon
project participants le arned about finance ,
public relations and project management a s
much as about construction and sustainability.
core values,
changing times
NEWsWoRThy ] REINvENTIoN aNd INNovaTIoN
Reinvention and Innovation: practice and the academy
This school’s extraordinar y character makes the difference. We are
exceptionally aware of the challenges facing the design professions today.
bac boa rd chair Russel feldma n
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pRacTIcE